Crash
by The Last Letter
Summary: An ending isn't forever, and despite the fact that he's hurt her and she's hurt him, somehow they just can't stay away. B/E
1. Chapter 1

_`Wait, where you say you've been?_

_Who you been with?_

_Where you say you're goin'?_

_Who you goin' with?_

**S-I-M-O-N-E.**

Bay kept seeing those letters every time she closed her eyes. Simone – goddamn Simone. And Emmett – goddamn Emmett.

But it wasn't just those letters she couldn't get out of her head. It was Emmett himself. It was Emmett with his gentle hands and those eyes that reached into her soul, stealing away her breath. Emmett who was standing here in front of her, watching her tears with sorrow in his eyes as though he wasn't the one who had caused them.

**Bay**_**, **_he signed, **say something. Say anything.**

"What am I supposed to say? I'm incredibly grateful you slept with my enemy."

**You're angry. You should be. But please don't give up on us because I'm an idiot.**

"You are an idiot." Bay would gladly agree to that. "But I can't stay with you knowing what you did."

**I'll earn your trust back.** Emmett swore.

Bay glanced away from him. She couldn't look him in the eye. Not now; not when she was about to cut their final ties. When she walked away tonight, she couldn't see herself walking back. She had to let go of him.

"That's not how it works. If we stay together I'll constantly wonder. Whenever you aren't right next to me, I'll be consumed with who you're with, where exactly you are, and if you're telling me the truth about all of it."

**I'll NEVER lie to you again.**

"But I'll never trust you again!" Bay burst out.

**But I love you.**

"But that wasn't enough." She shook her head. "I wasn't enough."

**You are enough. You are everything.**

"No! If I was, we wouldn't be having this conversation! Don't you understand, Emmett? This is goodbye." Her breath caught in her throat. This was it: no more us, them, him – it was all over.

**Bay –**

But she turned around. She wasn't listening to him anymore.

_Keep me on my toes,_

_Keep me in the know._

Bay found herself returning to Emmett's murals. Every time she looked at the pictures – so beautiful, heartfelt, and utterly painful – she missed him more than she could ever possibly voice. Her logical side told her that he hurt her and that she shouldn't want him but the rest of her denied that voice. The rest of her was begging to return to his arms, to waltz back into the folds of his heart and remain there until the end of time.

But life wasn't like that.

She couldn't just go back to Emmett, even though she was sure that she had never wanted anything else more in her entire life. The want to be next to him was overwhelming at times – it crawled into her brain and stayed there. It stayed so that she couldn't sleep, so that she couldn't eat, so that she couldn't do anything without seeing his face everywhere.

She moaned in frustration, placing her hands on her hips. She glared at the canvas in front of her. It was Emmett but not. He was too shadowed, too dark, to possibly be her glowing Emmett with the childish smirk.

But this, she realized, was how she saw him now. She saw him as dark, as tainted with the reek of betrayal. He had hurt her and she didn't think that she could ever let go of that. He had been the first person to break her heart. There had been other boys – ones who she had cried over, thrown temper tantrums over, and carried on as though they had broken her heart – but she had never felt the _rip_ like she had with Emmett.

Because Emmett was also the first boy she loved.

She had never fallen in love before. It was dizzying, terrifying, but she had loved every moment of it. She had loved being in love with him. She had loved how he had smiled and how his fingers spelled out his feelings (there was something the artist in her adored how he could create thoughts with his hands). She loved the way his lips scorched her skin and how she had heard his voice (as clunky as it had sounded she hadn't heard anything as beautiful since).

She had loved him but he had broken her.

_Wait, keep me in your skin,_

_Keep me in your chest._

_I'll wait for it to start,_

_I'll wait for it to end._

Emmett couldn't take his eyes off of her. Though he was here for Daphne he couldn't ignore the fact that Bay was right here. His dark haired beauty, the one that still ruled his heart so long after she had said her goodbyes, was just several feet away. He could stand up, cross the yard, and find his arms around her.

If only it were that simple. If only he could walk into her studio – walls thrumming with loud music – and put his arms around her waist, his chin on her shoulder, her long curls caressing his cheeks. He wished he could thread his fingers through her paint splattered ones. He wished that he could cradle her tightly, feeling her heartbeat thrumming through her – one of the only things he had ever longed to hear.

But what could he do to change her mind? What could he do to piece them back together? He had taken a sledgehammer to their relationship and he knew that he had probably done far too much damage for them to ever be repaired.

But he longed for it to be different. He longed for a new beginning, or the beginning they had already had. Had it only been such a short time ago that she had smiled at him like he was her world? Had it only been a short time ago that she had loved him?

He still loved her. She was still everything to him. But she was done with him. She had walked away and severed all of her ties to him. Yet, he still felt tied to her. She was still his anchor in the sea that was his life. He doubted that would ever change. When someone made you feel like_ that_ you never forgot it; you never got over it.

Bay was his beginning, middle, and end. She was his novel.

But she had already written the last page.

_Keep me on my toes,_

_Keep me in the know._

**Are you sure that you want to be here?** Daphne asked.

Emmett glanced around him, drawing in a deep breath. No, of course he didn't want to be here. But she had practically begged him to – if he was uncomfortable in this setting, she was doubly so. The Kennish's looked natural, dressed to the nines in their formal attire and circulating around the hotel ballroom for whatever fundraiser this was. He and Daphne, they didn't belong here. They were obviously outsiders, simply looking in to the lives of the rich and famous.

** You have to be here. It's not fair that you have to suffer alone.**

Daphne followed his gaze. **Bay looks pretty.**

** Bay always looks beautiful.** Emmett countered.

** Are you ever going to let her go? **Daphne asked.** I told you – she's been dating.**

Emmett sighed. **It doesn't matter. She deserves to explore her options. She'll discover that I'm right for her.**

** What if she doesn't?**

** Then I'll wait until she does.**

Daphne gestured – subtly, however, this wasn't the type of establishment that you pointed in – to Bay, who was laughing loudly with Toby, a pretty girl in a green dress, and a good-looking, unfamiliar boy.

**Does she look like she's waiting on you?** Daphne asked.

Emmett set his jaw firmly. **She'll come back.**

_But when I looked at her,_

_I thought of only you._

_If only there was proof I could use to show it's true._

"Leave me alone!" Bay cried, throwing her words at him like knives. "I can't take this anymore!"

**Bay – just hear me out.**

"Bullshit." Bay snapped. "Everything is bullshit. I don't need you to feed me lines or tell me your version of events. I get your version of events – you were angry, blah blah blah; Simone was there, blah blah blah; it didn't mean anything, blah blah blah; I'm the only thing that matters to you, blah, _blah, BLAH_!"

**That's not fair!**

"What's not fair is you sleeping with someone else!"

**I get it; you're still angry –**

"Damn right I'm still angry!" Bay spat, ignoring the rest of his signs.

**I would take it back.**

"I would hope so."

**All I wanted was you. All I want now is you. Can't you come back to me, let me prove myself to you?**

He was stepping closer and closer to her. Bay flattened herself against her car, unable to think or breathe. She knew that look in his eyes – he was coming to kiss her; to hold her. She wanted it to happen, she missed his lips and his touch, yet, she didn't know if she was ready for it. She wasn't sure if he could hold her without her wondering if she felt like Simone felt.

**Bay**_**, **_Emmett signed but that was it. The next thing Bay knew, they were twined around one another. Limb for limb, breath for breath, she couldn't get enough of him.

_We were young,_

_We were in our teens._

_It wasn't real love,_

The tips of his fingers caressed along her collarbones and down across her ribs. He felt her stomach dip as she sucked in a breath, all of her muscles tensed. He moved back along her body, resting himself over her still form. He braced himself on either side of her, running his large hands across her delicate face. She looked so beautiful; laying in his childhood bed, her exotic hair spread across the pillows he laid his head on every night.

He tapped his lips against hers, before pecking at her nose. He traced under her eyes and across her cheekbones. Her dark eyes were filled with sorrow, lust, and something that he couldn't identify – something that he hoped, prayed, was love.

Her thin hands slipped over his shoulders, resting on his shoulder blades. Without saying a word, she gave a sharp tug, her chipped nails digging into his flesh. He felt the urgency that she did – the need to become one with her, to hold her like she deserved to be held.

And so, he kissed her deeply and took them both to another place.

_Spent behind bars._

_Oh it's sad to think,_

_We just let it be._

_Prisoners of love._

Bay found herself, as she always did when she was thinking too much, in her studio covered in paint. All she could think about was last night – last night spent wrapped in Emmett's love. It was there she had given him the final part of herself to him – her heart, her love, her virginity. But now she felt empty. She had given so much to him but what did she keep for herself?

And his touch, oh! It had scorched her, had thrilled her, and it had gutted her. Yes, she had been with Emmett, and yes, that had meant the world to her. But her world had been broken and empty. He had still hurt her and she still felt the pull of that pain when she least expected it.

Somehow, foolishly, she thought that being with him like that would change something. That it would brush away the new feelings, the dark, negative feelings, and bring the old feelings –the positive feelings when she was on cloud 9, when she was in love, when the entire universe was within her grasp and nothing could change her feelings for Emmett – surging back to her.

But it hadn't. She still felt angry and she still felt betrayed.

She looked at the painting in front of her – dark and brutal. There she was, her hands all over Emmett while his hands were all over her, but they were trapped behind prison bars. She wondered what it all meant. Sometimes her thoughts and emotions poured onto her canvas before she knew what her thoughts were or understood her emotions. Her canvases were her visual guide to her subconscious but she didn't always understand where they were leading her.

She and Emmett looked happy in the painting. Whenever she thought of him in her head, she felt happiness. When she visualized him being in the future with her, she felt happy.

But there were the bars. There were the niggling doubts that, though she felt as though she were over his mistakes, the pain would all come rushing back one day. She would be smiling, laughing, and all of a sudden another bomb would drop. Her life would change all over again; her once stable ground disappearing beneath her feet.

She couldn't take everything being stolen again. But she couldn't turn away from Emmett. He meant far too much for her to simply drop all that they had with one another. It was so complicated – she needed him next to her but she needed her space, needed her time to breathe and be herself.

But he held all of the pieces of her.

How could she be herself without him?

_It's so easy for it to be,_

_Something second guessed._

_Easy to read,_

**What is this, Bay? Are we together? Are we friends?**

"I don't know," Bay stammered, uncertainty bringing a blush to her cheeks. They were _something_ – they had gone through too much to be nothing – but could she define what they were? Could anyone define what they were?

Emmett tried not to let his disappointment show, but she could see it from the way his eyes drooped before snapping back up to her lips.

"I wish I had something to say here, Emmett. But . . . I don't."

**Do you have feelings for me at all?**

"You're my friend-"

**Bullshit! You come see me in the dead of night, you trust me with your secrets – that sounds like more than friends with me.**

"Why do we need to label it?" Bay's voice broke. "Why can't we just leave it like this? Why can't we just enjoy the moment?"

**I want to be more than just your 'moment'.**

"I don't want to lose you, Emmett, but I don't know how to be more than what we are now." She didn't want to cry, but she could feel the tears beginning to bloom in her eyes, the heaviness of emotion building in the back of her throat. "Please, Emmett. I'm not going to stop seeing you – I need you in my life, God knows why – but I can't have pressure from this."

**I'm here for you. However you need me to be.**

"And I love you for that," Bay managed a weak smile. She took his hand, squeezing it tightly. "I truly do."

Emmett didn't respond, just pulled her into his chest.

_Don't let it become,_

_A meaningless routine._

_It's meaningless to me._

And so, that's how it was. They weren't labeled; not much of anyone knew about them. He continued to be steadfast and loyal to her, while she tried to sort herself out. He was kind and patient with her, while she was a wrecking ball for him. But he didn't care. She was here – she was his. He didn't need anything else from her. She still came to his bed and looked at him and him alone. She laughed at his jokes and smiled at him. Her fingers moved with fluidity as she used his language to spin herself tighter into his heart.

But Emmett didn't know what to think or do. He was in love with Bay – he would always be in love with Bay – but something had to give. He couldn't get caught in this whirlpool of stolen kisses, passionate nights, and unsure if she would come back. He loved being with her, he never wanted their time together to end, but he wanted to feel as though there were meaning in being with her – like they weren't going through the motions like it was some kind of cheap hook-up.

He watched her as she slept, angelic in innocence. He traced her bare shoulder blades and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. She didn't stir in her sleep; didn't make a sound. He curled lower into the bed, pulling her tightly into his arms. He held her and hoped that a change would come soon – she would wake up and get rid of the half-murmured affections and hesitant advances. They would become _them_ – go back to how they were before he made his final mistake and changed everything.

Soon the creaky emotions would dissipate and leave only their love and passion behind. They would be beautiful again.

Yet, that was not what Emmett woke to. Emmett woke to an empty bed and found out, half an hour later, that Bay had disappeared.

She was never coming back.

**I don't own anything recognizable. The song is **_**Crash**_** by **_**You Me At Six**_**. Thanks to my fantastic beta: Noble6.**

**~TLL~**


	2. Chapter 2

_But when I looked at her,_

_I thought of only you._

_If only there was proof I could use to show it's true._

"Do you want me to call someone, dear?"

Bay looked up at the nice nurse standing over her and shook her head.

"Are you sure?" The nurse, who had identified herself as Becky when Bay had come into the hospital, pressed. "What about the father? Or your mother and father? A sister or brother, perhaps?"

Bay shook her head again. No, she was having this baby on her own. Its father didn't know that it existed; neither did any of her parents. This baby was hers and hers alone. She would be the best mother she could be to it; she would be all her child ever needed.

"No," she told Becky firmly. "I'm all on my own."

The nurse gave her a sad but knowing look. "All right then, dear. We'll get you into bed and then we'll see if we can tell how long it will be until this little one arrives."

Her little one arrived nine and a half hours after that conversation. Bay fell back against the pillows, hearing her infant's cries.

"It's a girl," Becky murmured in Bay's ear. "You have a baby girl."

And Bay found herself crying too. Her little girl – wrapped up in a warm blanket – was placed into her exhausted arms. She looked down into the eyes that were blue, startling blue, and with dark hair like her own.

"Oh," Bay sobbed. "She's beautiful."

"She is," Becky agreed, "and she's completely healthy."

_Completely healthy,_ Bay's mind sighed happily. And then, her eyes snapped to Becky's face. "Completely? She passed the hearing test?"

"She passed everything," Becky assured her.

Bay reached a trembling hand up to her daughter's face. Her baby was sleepy, bright eyes drifting shut before snapping open again. She waved a flailing arm and it tangled in her mother's dark curls. She tugged sharply and Bay smiled.

"Does she have a name?" Becky asked.

"Estella Kathryn Kennish-Bledsoe," Bay rattled off immediately.

"That's lovely," Becky complimented.

Bay simply nodded.

Hours later, though her eyes were dropping from exhaustion and her body was begging her for sleep, Bay couldn't help but keep herself away. Estella, though fast asleep, captivated her. She stared at her newborn, wondering who she looked like. And the answer was easy – despite an obvious exotic nature to her looks – Estella looked like her father; she looked like Emmett.

Hesitantly, Bay reached out and cupped the baby's skull in her head.

It wasn't fair, was it? To keep such a little miracle from him. Just because Bay didn't know how she felt about Emmett – when she thought of him she always thought _'love'_ but he made her so mixed up and confused inside – didn't mean that he didn't know how to do about her.

She closed her eyes and moved away from her child. She opened the laptop that she'd had packed in her hospital bag, signing into her old Skype account. Ever since she had left Mission Hills and her old life behind, she hadn't contacted any of her old friends or any of her family. She looked at her list of old contacts and found his name.

Of course he was online.

Taking a deep breath, she pressed the call button.

_Just crash, fall down,_

_I'll wrap my arms around you now._

_Just crash, it's our time now,_

_To make this work second time around._

Emmett paused in the doorway of the hospital room. Bay hadn't noticed his presence yet, and he found himself half hoping that she never would. She was dressed in a pink, loose fitting night gown. Her dark curls were pulled back into a messy ponytail and her face was clear of make-up. She looked exhausted but still beautiful.

His eyes dipped to her arms, to the little baby he knew she was cradling. His baby. The baby she had known about for months now, and hadn't bothered to tell him about. Somehow, he didn't hold it against her. She had called him as soon as their daughter was born – she had come to her senses.

He knocked on the door, finally capturing her attention.

He watched her pale lips form his name. _"Emmett."_

**Bay**, he answered, striding into the room. He approached the edge of her bed, eyes directly falling to the tiny hand he could see exposed.

Bay patted the bed and he dropped down next to her. Without any prompting from either of them Bay flawlessly, gentle, handed him their daughter. He looked down into the sleeping face – the wondrous face that belonged to his daughter. She yawned and he almost cried from the beauty of it all. She was so tiny in his large hands.

He looked at Bay, surprised to find that tears were blooming in his eyes.

** I know. **She signed. **I did the exact same thing.**

He smiled, dipping his head into a nod.

**I named her E-s-t-e-l-l-a K-a-t-h-r-y-n K-e-n-n-i-s-h-B-l-e-d-s-o-e. I hope you don't mind that I didn't ask –**

Emmett shook his head, cutting her off. He couldn't sign, not while holding her, but he didn't mind at all that Bay named her. Estella was beautiful. He looked down at his baby.

_ Estella._

Bay tapped his shoulder, getting his attention again.

**Emmett, I'm so sorry for everything. I should have been better to you, for you. I look back now and I realize how stupid I was. There was never anyone better for me than you and I should have known that.**

Emmett stared at her, waiting for her next words.

**What I'm asking is, can we start over? Can this be a new beginning for us? I still love you.**

With care, Emmett transferred Estella to his other arm. He wrapped his free one around Bay's shoulders, drawing her into him and pressing a kiss to her temple. This was how it was supposed to be; he and Bay together.

_We grew up,_

_We worked and changed our ways._

_Just like wildfire,_

Bay _never_ thought she would be eighteen years old with a baby. But now that she was here, Estella in her arms, she wouldn't change a thing. Nothing about having a baby so young was easy but not having her baby was so unthinkable that she didn't care about the difficulties. She was still able to do her art – which was selling well at the local markets and had garnered some interest from local dealers – and she had Emmett.

Estella meant they both had to grow up fast – much faster than either of them had ever anticipated- but they were doing it. They were raising a happy, healthy baby girl.

Emmett had moved to the city with Bay, into the apartment she'd had for the past several months. He'd picked up a job at a mechanic's shop and did freelancing for several magazines and papers. It was a little short of their dreams of fame and fortune; of art galas and having pictures presented in national magazines.

But they'd get there.

Bay was confident of it. Despite the fact that their dreams – the ones they had only a few years ago, but even seventeen seemed so damn young compared to how she felt now – were being pushed into the future, she had no regrets. She was eighteen years old, she had a baby, she had the love of her life, she was working, and she was actually _doing it_.

She was actually handling her life. It was almost comical. Her entire existence, all she had done was fall apart. And now, when things may have been at their hardest (after all, there were no parents to fall back on anymore, no bank account to save them when times became tough) she was her happiest.

She looked up as she heard the front door open. She waited as Emmett strode into the room. He had grease on his cheek and his eyes looked exhausted.

"You should get some sleep."

He leaned down and kissed her cheek before answering.

** I wanted to talk to you about something first. **Emmett eased down on the couch next to her, trailing his fingers along her arm.

Bay looked down at his fingers, laced around hers. She felt the smile bloom her face. Why had she tortured herself for so long, keeping herself away from him? True, she may have been confused and angry but she had never felt so strongly for another person. She had never loved anyone else; never would.

"All right," she smiled, "but you do look tired. Do you want to make it quick?"

He nodded. **Bay, will you marry me?**

And then he was down on one knee and she couldn't breathe.

_Been burning now for days._

_Tearing down those walls,_

_Nothing's in our way._

_I said, nothing's in our way._

Emmett watched Bay. She was curled up on her side of the bed, supposedly sketching but the pencils and paper had fallen to the side. She was twisting her ring around her finger, a brooding look on her dark features. He reached across the bed, pulling on her arm to get her attention.

She looked to him and he felt a jolt in the pit of his stomach. She never failed to reach him.

**What are you thinking?** He asked.

**I was thinking about us.**

** Oh no?**

A smile graced her lips. **I'm amazed by us.**

** I am too,** Emmett admitted. **I'm always amazed by you.**

Bay moved her art supplies, rolling so that she was snuggling into his side. **I'm amazed we're here. When I first met you, I never even thought I would be your friend.**

He tried, but he couldn't disguise the hurt that crossed his face.

**You were Daphne's deaf friend.** She shook her head, curls bouncing. **I hate to admit it now, but then, because of her, I had a hate on for the deaf community. And, come on, the language gap? I didn't think we could be a thing.** She bit her lip coyly. **No matter how attractive I found you.**

Emmett grinned. **And now?**

** Now I love you, of course. Now, I couldn't see my life without you. Never leave me, Emmett.**

He wrapped his arms around her, frightened at her words. No, he would never leave her; he _could_ never leave her. His lips fell hungrily to her mouth, and she returned the kiss, just as passionately. He wrapped his hands deeply in her hair as she began to shed the both of them of their clothes.

As they moved together, Emmett felt his heart explode. Nothing could be better than this – better than _them_; his little family; his forever.

_And I know, _

_I've said this all before,_

_But opposites attract._

_We try and run away,_

Bay knew eavesdropping was wrong. But it wasn't _technically _eavesdropping if they were signing, was it? She was poised to carry Estella into the room where Emmett was video chatting with Melody. It was the first time Melody would have seen the child, Bay and Emmett only contacting their parents yesterday to inform them of her existence.

But just as she had been about to enter, she had seen Melody **Bay** and she just couldn't help herself. She studied the moving hands, catching every bit of the conversation.

**Emmett, what do you think you are doing with Bay?**

** I **_**love**_** her!**

** And a baby! A baby!**

** I thought you would be happy about a granddaughter.**

** You are too young to have a baby! Did you get it tested? Do you know it's yours?**

** Bay told me that she's mine –**

** I wouldn't trust that girl's word!**

** And she looks just like me! Why are you so against Bay and I being together – being happy? I thought you liked Bay.**

** Before she ran away – before she broke your heart; Regina's heart; Kathryn's, Daphne's and John's hearts. She isn't a good girl.**

** I really don't think it's your position to judge her.**

** And marriage? You're marrying her? You don't have to be with her because she has your baby.**

** I'm not with her because of Estella. I would be with her even without Estella.**

** No, Emmett. You wouldn't. She used the baby to pull you back in.**

** Mom –**

** How has it being working? Being constantly surrounded in sea of hearing people? Has she started to resent the fact that you're deaf yet?**

** Bay wouldn't do such a thing!**

** You wait. This will fall apart quicker than you can blink. I'm trying to save you from heartbreak. You're my son and I need to protect you.**

** I think I need protection from you. And, for the record, everyone else is happy for us. They're ecstatic – even if they are struggling to understand our choices. Why can't you just be happy for me?**

** I can't be happy for you if I know that you're about to destroy yourself.**

** I can't do this. Please don't contact me again until you can be civil.**

Emmett slammed the laptop shut. A rare noise escaped his throat – an angry growl that was also sorrowful. Bay felt her heart break in her chest. She went to his side, immediately grabbing his attention.

**Is everything all right?** She signed.

**My mom – she doesn't understand anything.** Emmett sighed deeply. **But it doesn't matter, does it?**

** Well, she's your mom. She matters.**

** No, not her. That you're hearing and I'm deaf.**

** No. It just makes all of this more of an adventure.**

_But end up running back._

_And all I want to do,_

_All I want to do,_

_Is lie down and..._

"Are you ready, baby?" Bay cooed to Estella, strapped firmly into her car seat in the back. "Are you ready to meet your grandparents? And your Uncle Toby and Aunt Daphne?"

Estella cooed loudly and Bay hoped that it meant _yes_. After all, one of them had to be ready to face her family again and it certainly wasn't her. Even Emmett, who had been consistently assuring her that everything would be all right and that they were her family – of course they still loved her, and no, they wouldn't be mad – still looked a little uneasy at the sight of the Kennish family home.

She pulled into the familiar driveway. Bay's eyes widened as the entire clan came into view – Regina, Angelo, Adrianna, Daphne, Toby, Kathryn, and John.

"Oh God," Bay breathed, suddenly remembering why she had been freaking out the entire drive home. They _were_ going to hate her.

**Calm down.**

Bay turned the engine off. "This is as calm as I'm going to get."

**I'll get Estella. You go see your family.**

Bay woodenly followed his instructions, realizing a second too late that she would have gotten Estella so then she would have had a baby to hide behind.

"Bay!" Kathryn was the first one to call out, to reach her arms around her. "Oh, honey. We missed you so much and you didn't have to hide from us."

"I know, now. But I just … I think I needed to."

"You should have stayed at home," John chimed in but there was a smile on his face that betrayed just how excited he was to see her.

"I know," Bay hugged him tightly, "but I'm home now."

"I feel like I want to lecture you," Regina began, "but I'm just so excited to see you home."

Bay was passed around in whirlwind of hugs and brief words – all along the lines of 'we're kind of disappointed in you but you're healthy so we're not going to yell'. When Bay faced Daphne, Toby's arms securely around her, she didn't know what to say. She had never really known what to say to Daphne – at one point, they had been the only people in the world who could understand each other; and then they had been like sisters. But they had always been so wildly different, and Emmett had always been a sore point between them.

**Hi, Daphne.**

** Bay.**

** You're mad.**

** I just don't see why they're forgiving you. You hurt them all.**

** I know, and it's not an excuse, but I was hurting too.**

Daphne averted her eyes for a moment, glancing to Regina. She heaved a sigh and said, **But I can't change your choices. **

** Sometimes I wish I could.**__Bay admitted.

"You really have a baby?" Daphne asked, switching to her voice.

"The baby!" Kathryn exclaimed, "Yes, Bay, where is she?"

"Estella is over there," Bay turned on her heel to gesture to the car, "With Emmett."

Emmett, who had been leaning against the hood of the car, suddenly realized that everyone was looking at him. He smirked and then turned Estella so the bright-eyed-girl could greet her family. Kathryn scooped up her granddaughter, bringing her back to the family to fawn over.

Bay hung back from her family, folding herself into Emmett's side. Though there should have been a sense of completeness in returning home, Bay just felt exhausted by it all. She found herself longing for the simplicity of their city life – their little apartment and having nothing but each other.

_Crash, fall down._

_I'll wrap my arms around you now._

_Just crash, it's our time now,_

_To make this work, second time around._

Emmett stretched out in the bed in John and Kathryn's guest house – once occupied by Daphne and Regina. It wasn't an uncomfortable bed, by any means, but it was empty. Bay was in her childhood bedroom with their daughter. He would give anything to be next to her now but he couldn't be.

Kathryn's rules: the groom mustn't see the bride before the wedding.

He rolled onto his other side, his eyes falling to the window where he could see the main house. He was weighing whether or not it would be worth it to sneak in and see her when something caught his attention – his door creaked open. He shot up in bed, wondering if there was something he could use as a weapon, as he clicked on the light.

The soft lamp light fell across Bay's face, but she quickly shook her head, motioning for him to turn it off. He realized that she was carrying a sleeping Estella and quickly did as she wished. Estella was good at sleeping through the nights but if something woke her, she would never fall back to sleep.

He could pick out Bay's shape in the darkness, and felt the dip of the bed as she curled up beside him. He pulled her into him, his arms going tightly around her waist. His fingers brushed against Estella's tiny leg and he smiled. He snuggled his neck into the crook of her neck, enjoying the heat of her skin.

Bay kissed him deeply and he melted into her.

He didn't know how he got lucky enough to have her, how she fell in love with him, but he knew that he wouldn't change a thing – not any of the mistakes, not any of the heartbreak – because it had landed them _here_ and _here_ was paradise.

_Oh crash, fall down._

_Just crash, fall down._

_Just crash, fall down._

_Just crash, fall down._

**I don't own anything recognizable. The song is **_**Crash**_** by **_**You Me At Six**_**. Thanks to my fantastic beta: Noble6.**

**~TLL~**


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